


Relationship Status

by pherryt



Series: Star Trek Bingo [22]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy days, F/M, Fake Relationship, Fluff, Mistaken For A Couple, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 12:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19426081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: It had taken Nyota far longer to realize what was going on than she liked, and she was relatively certain that Commander Spock hadn’t picked up on it at all, as unconcerned with such matters as he was.It hadn’t been intentional, whatever she might have liked to happen between them, but somehow, a good portion of the Academy were absolutely convinced that she and the commander were in a relationship.And it wasn’t that she was afraid to tell the commander that, so much as she wished that it were true.





	Relationship Status

**Author's Note:**

> this one is for Fake Relationship - which i found hard to do since the square is supposed to focus on spock/uhura as a ship. not entirely sure this works, but i hope it does!
> 
> only one more bingo square after this one!!!! i still have to post he other two here which are art, (they're already posted on tumblr) one with a snippet to accompany it, and i'll add them together as a new work ...

It had taken Nyota far longer to realize what was going on than she liked, and she was relatively certain that Commander Spock hadn’t picked up on it at all, as unconcerned with such matters as he was.

It hadn’t been intentional, whatever she might have liked to happen between them, but somehow, a good portion of the Academy were absolutely convinced that she and the commander were in a relationship.

And it wasn’t that she was afraid to tell the commander that, so much as she wished that it were true.

She’d been working with him on advanced linguistics while he was helping at the academy and had taken to practicing her Vulcan with him on the side.

Nothing more. Certainly no such behavior that ill behooved a student – teacher relationship. But of course, the gossiping cadets had seen the amount of time she and the commander were spending together and had jumped to conclusions.

“What does it matter?” Gaila asked when Nyota brought it up to her roommate.

“Because it isn’t the truth,” Nyota said.

Gaila gave her a knowing look. “But you want it to be.”

Twisting her hair up into it’s pony tail, Nyota sat on her bed and slipped on her boots. “Doesn’t matter what I _want_. He doesn’t see me that way and I won’t make him uncomfortable.”

“Are you sure about that?” Gaila asked, dropping to the bed beside Nyota.

“That I don’t want to make him uncomfortable? Of course. It must be difficult for him here. I’ve heard what the gossips say about him.”

“No, dummy. That he doesn’t see you that way?” Gaila hummed the question

Nyota glared at her and stood, grabbing her messenger bag. at the last second, she grabbed a pillow too and lobbed it her roommates’ face before leaving the dorm room. The door shut on Gaila’s indignant squawk and Nyota smiled before hurrying on her way.

*+v*+v*+v*+v*+v*

“This is highly illogical. We are not in a relationship, so why would anyone persist in telling others that we were?”

The Vulcan’s tone would be almost disappointed, Nyota thought, if she didn’t know any better.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she said. “I cannot control what others think or not think of us. I just thought you should be aware of the rumors, in case you wanted to…” she stumbled over the words. Because she didn’t want to suggest an ending to this arrangement. For one, she was getting things out of it that regular classes had been unable to provide and two, Gaila was right. She didn’t want to see _less_ of Spock. In fact, she rather wished to see _more_. “terminate my extra lessons.”

Spock stared at her silently for a moment. Probably less, actually, but to her it seemed stretched out. “That will not be an issue, cadet.”

“I –,” Nyota blinked. “It won’t?”

“Of course not. I will not punish you for the wrongful assumptions of others.”

“But, they believe that I am garnering unfair favoritism by my association with you,” Nyota pointed out.

“As your work with me has no bearing on your grades directly, I see no reason why the lessons cannot continue. All your grades will be earned, by you, and by how well you learn. I am merely facilitating your accumulation of knowledge. Shall we begin?”

Nyota held back the sigh of relief that her time with Spock would not be coming to an early end.

When the Enterprise was finished and it was time to receive her assignment and ship out, it was possible that she’d be put on another ship, but she had high hopes for the flagship of the fleet. But she still had time before that turning point and she refused to waste it.

*+v*+v*+v*+v*+v*

Eventually, Nyota stopped refuting the rumors when they came her way. None of her efforts in that regard had squelched them in the slightest, so what was the point?

Instead, she smiled enigmatically, and if people assumed there was more to it than that, that was their fault, not hers.

The only plus was that Kirk hadn’t picked up on it, but then, he was apparently too busy with his own studies and getting laid to pry into her life. She still wasn’t sure what was up with that, either. Halfway through the academy together, she’d been certain Kirk and McCoy were a thing, but McCoy didn’t date – the only person she knew with a heavier course load than hers and Kirks - and Kirk slept around so… unless they had an open relationship…

She shook her head. She didn’t want people speculating about her love life (or rather tragic lack of one) so she wouldn’t speculate about theirs.

Tonight, Commander Spock was taking her to a Vulcan exhibit at the cultural exchange museum, a test of the progress of both her newly acquired language skills. If she spruced up a bit, it was only so she wouldn’t embarrass him in public. Well, embarrass was not quite the word, perhaps, but…

She stepped out into the hall, sans uniform for once, and made her way towards the dorm exit. A few of her fellow cadets whistled at her, a handful of others remarking on her ‘hot date’, some of them less than polite about it.

Brushing it off, she smirked knowingly and stepped outside – only to trip and fall into Spock’s arms.

“Are you all right, cadet?” he asked, assisting her to her feet.

She blushed. “Yes, yes of course. Thank you for the timely catch.”

They walked the length of the campus and caught a ride to the museum in silence after the pleasantries were observed. It was quiet in a way she was unused to and she almost fidgeted under the imagined weight of Spock’s gaze.

“Cadet, may I be frank with you?”

“Of course,” Nyota said.

“I must confess that I had an ulterior motive for asking you to accompany myself tonight,” he said evenly. “I am well aware that what we are doing may be construed as ‘a date’ and after meditating upon the matter, have realized that my suggestion for tonight’s activity had not been pure. I will understand if you should choose to cancel our ‘date’ under the circumstances.”

“Don’t you dare,” Nyota blurted out, surprising herself. She closed her eyes and tried to compose herself. Opening them, she stared up at Spock. “I was also aware that it would appear we were going on a date tonight and I didn’t care, nor did I correct anyone who assumed such. Do you know why that is?”

“Because it was futile to – “

She shook her head sharply. “No.”

“Because you secretly wished that it was a _real_ date?” Spock asked, the words coming out carefully. There was a tick to his jaw, a tug that by now Nyota had seen often enough to believe was his very much subdued version of a smile. Her own lips tugged into a smile, wider than his by far, but still subtle to any onlookers.

“I did.”

“Very well. As I am neither your instructor or your superior, I have no objections to this change in our dynamic.”

Nyota couldn’t help that her smile spread a little wider, a pleased flush darkening her skin as he held out his hand. She took it gently, lightly, ready to pull away if it was too much but his fingers tightened around hers briefly then relaxed into a light hold.

“I take it you approve of changing our relationship status from fake to real?”

“Why Spock, was that a joke?” Nyota said lightly, though giddiness spread through her.

“Perhaps,” Spock asked. “I am unaccustomed to making jokes. Was I successful?”

She hummed and nodded, her eyes twinkling lightly. There, that was definitely a smile curving about those beautiful lips. A stranger still wouldn’t see it, but she could, and she liked that the smile was just for her.

Nyota didn’t know when Spock had come to see her the way she saw him, or what had prompted him to bring it up now, but she was happy.

As for her desire to be stationed to the Enterprise, that had just doubled. It was the only place she could be sure to excel, working alongside the best of the best, but it would also have Spock and she wouldn’t want to have to choose between two things she cared for a great deal.

But who knew what the future held? If it was meant to be, it was meant to be, and if it wasn’t… she’d just have to make sure that it did.


End file.
